Lauritz Christiansen

This page contains information about a character that has been or is still played by a member of the LotC community. Please keep this in mind as you proceed reading.

Lauritz Henrik Christiansen High Justiciar Lauritz Henrik, by Alaine Ferri c. 1758. High Justiciar of Haense Tenure: 1786 - 1806 Predecessor: Wilhelm Vyronov Successor: Matyas Baruch Monarch: Joseph I Member of the House of Commons Tenure: 1775 - 1784 President of the Imperial Senate Tenure: 1756 - 1764 Predecessor: Terrence May Successor: Office dissolved Terrence May (as President of the House of Commons) Senator from Helena Tenure: 1754 - 1764 Predecessor: William Napier Successor: Office dissolved Born: 13th of the First Seed, 1733 Sejrsborg, Kalden Spouse: Louisa Pruvia (m. 1755 - died 1758) Winifred Halcourt (m. 1764 - died 1778) House: Kalden Father: Unknown Mother: Unknown

Sir Lauritz Henrik Christiansen KM (Common: Lawrence Henry; Auvergnian: Laurent Henri; High Imperial: Laurentius Henricus), also commonly known as L. H. Christiansen or Senator Christiansen was an Imperial author, politician and statesman of unknown origin, who served as the fourth and final President Pro Tempore of the Imperial Senate. His life was largely shaped by his career in politics.

Early life

Born on the 13th of the First Seed in 1733, not many details are known of Lauritz’s early life. He has seven siblings. He is suspected to have been born in either Haense, Aeldin or an entirely third continent.

Early Political Career

At the young age of 19, Lauritz arrived in Helena with nothing to his name. As he possessed a cunning intellect and a vast amount of knowledge, he was quickly offered a job by Vespira d’Arkent at Selm, as a tutor to her children. Here, he quickly became a close friend of Mary d’Arkent.

Lauritz as President Pro Tempore of the Imperial Senate, 1758. By Alaine Ferri.

Senator of Helena and President Pro Tempore of the Senate

Christiansen served as the Senior Senator of Helena for 10 years and as President Pro Tempore for 8 years. He was first elected to the Senate in 1754, at the age of 21, after receiving 48% of the vote in an election with four candidates. However, due to the two available seats in Helena, his future wife, Louisa Pruvia, was also appointed to the Senate.

During his first two years of the Senate, Lauritz worked primarily on the Paddington Act, which saw to define the rights of the newly discovered Wonk race. The Act became monumental in being the first to define any rights for non-persons. Due to his youth, energy and natural aptitude for politics, he was elected as President Pro Tempore in 1756, replacing the retiring Terrence May.

His tenure as President Pro Tempore of the Senate marked one of the most effective periods of the Senate yet, setting the record for passed bills in a Session in the 1758-60 Session. He was re-elected for the Senate twice, running unopposed in 1758 and winning with 72% of the vote in the 1762 election. However, his position and the Senate were replaced with the House of Commons by the Edict of Reform of 1763, a consequence of the Edict of Resettlement of the same year. Lauritz decided to retire following the Edict, partially due to his hesitation to support the new system and due to his engagement to Winifred Halcourt, the Baroness of Artois.

First Retirement

Following his retirement from Imperial politics, Lauritz opened two companies: Lauritz Christiansen Solicitor-At-Law, a law firm, and Christiansen Publishing, a publishing company through which he began to publish his written works. He also began to openly criticise the House of Commons, being particularly against factionalism in Imperial politics. He was nominated to the position of Judge in 1766 and was swiftly confirmed by the House of Commons. His first trial was the Crown v. Corbish trial, which ended up being one of the largest trials of the period, with even the King of Haense in the audience.

The War Against the Scyflings

When the Scyflings landed in Arcas, Lauritz volunteered to fight alongside the HRA in defense of the Kingdom. He fought alongside the Haeseni in many battles, particularly in the Siege of Valwyck, the Battle of the North Sea, the Sack of Vasiland, the Siege of Vasiland, the Battle for the North, as well as a number of smaller missions and battles.

In 1771, before the Siege of Vasiland, Lauritz reunited with three of his siblings, Laura, Noah, and Kirstine. The three had heard news of the Scyfling war and his participation, and had decided to come join the fight. Kirstine would later die during the Battle for the North in 1775.

During the Scyfling Siege of Reza in 1777, Lauritz was once more present. He was primarily tasked with protecting the Royal Family, and did not leave the palace during the battle. As fighting erupted in the throne room, he stayed by the side of King Josef as his sole protector.

During the course of the war, Lauritz made many friends among the Haeseni. Notably he reconnected with his former student Princess Amelya. Among the others he made friends with are Princess Alexandria, Godfric Alimar, Sofiya Baruch, Queen Viktoria, and the young King Josef.

For his efforts during the war, he received The Sparrows Valor, a Haeseni War Medal given to those who have proven themselves capable of leading men in combat. Additionally, he received two Crosses of St. Karl on behalf of his siblings, Kirstine and Noah.

Late Political Career

As the fighting in the Scyfling War became less and less intense, Lauritz began to return to Helena, while still fighting in the North when called upon. He was awarded a Knighthood in the Imperial Order of Merit in 1773.

He was later elected to the House of Commons in the 1775 election, having decided to run after amendments were made to the Edict of Reform in 1773, which allowed him to run independently from the Josephites and Everardines. He resigned his position as a Justice to do this.

In the 17th Imperial Diet, he was the only independent until he was joined later by Lukas Rakoczy. He was the person to propose and pass the most bills during this diet, passing more bills than both the Josephites and the Everardines. He was barely elected to the 18th Diet in 1780, having only a margin of 1.5% of the vote down to the next candidate. He made the decision to retire at the end of the 18th Diet.

During his return to the Diet during the 17th and 18th Diets, he was acting Leader of the House of Commonson behalf of Jonah Stahl-Elendil once, and acting President of the House of Commons twice, once on behalf of Konstantin Wick, and once on behalf of Lukas Rakoczy.

Second Retirement

After retiring again, Lauritz made the decision to move to Nenzing to escape the public eye. He barely got to spend a few months in retirement, before he was called upon by King Josef to serve as his High Justiciar, a position which he accepted.

Marriages

Lauritz married Louisa Pruvia in a private wedding in 1755, though the wedding is regarded as having been done by a political move to make Louisa more electable in the 1756 election. Louisa passed away in 1758, though her cause of death is unknown.

Lauritz met Winifred Halcourt, the Baroness of Artois, in 1762, after Simon Basrid had recommended a match between the two. They formally became engaged in 1763 and married on the 9th of Snow’s Maiden in 1764.

Issue

Name	Birth	Death	Marriage
Margrethe Alexandra Lauritsen	5th of the Deep Cold, 1756	Alive	Unwed	Firstborn daughter and only child of Lauritz and Louisa
Jens Otto Lauritsen	11th of the Grand Harvest, 1765	Alive	Unwed	Firstborn son and twin of Edith
Edith Irene Lauritsen	11th of the Grand Harvest, 1765	Alive	Unwed	Secondborn daughter and twin of Jens
Francis Leon Lauritsen	13th of the Grand Harvest, 1767	Alive	Unwed	Secondborn son
Viktor Sigismund Lauritsen	20th of the Deep Cold, 1768	Alive	Unwed	Thirdborn son
Konrad Terrence Lauritsen	19th of the First Seed, 1778	Alive	Unwed	Fourthborn son